@CabotLabs

We solve problems for our customers. For more than a century, we have advanced their businesses by delivering reliable and high-quality performance materials that enhance the properties of their end products.

Today, we continue to work on creating tomorrow’s opportunities. We are constantly developing new solutions and leveraging the understanding of our existing products to better serve the expanding functional needs of our customers. Our strategy is to extend our leadership in performance materials by investing for growth in our core businesses, driving application innovation with our customers, and generating strong cash flows through efficiency and optimization. Key to this strategy is an increased focus on application innovation. Our technology leadership is at the cornerstone of our ability to deliver innovative solutions to customers, while enabling us to execute our growth agenda and generate exceptional cash flow for our shareholders.

We recognize that we cannot innovate on our own – we collaborate with our customers to better understand their challenges. @cabotlabs is where we spotlight our technical strengths, competencies and successes. By sharing our latest discoveries and collaborations, we help customers anticipate the next breakthrough in their markets and industries.

We invite you to engage with us as we continue to pioneer new products, technologies and processes – driving even greater innovation. Our global team is ready and able to tackle tomorrow’s challenges with you.

A Passion for Continuous Improvement

Cost effective water delivery

A recent study determined that Brazil’s water pipelines and tanks lose more than 600 billion liters of water annually — or more than 40% of all treated water in the country.

The study determined that the water was being lost as it was pumped from processing plants to consumers’ tanks, due to pipe and tank degradation over time. Our South American customer Braskem worked very closely with us to create a solution to address this issue. We combined Braskem High Density Polyethylene resin with PLASBLAK® LL6050 masterbatch to help create new, high-performing polyethylene (PE) pressure pipes. The new PE pipes significantly reduce leaks because there are fewer joints and connections. They also last up to 50 years or longer — in part because PLASBLAK LL6050 masterbatch contains one of our high performing p-type carbon blacks, which provides exceptional ultraviolet protection and low moisture absorption for the polymer to prevent premature degradation.

In addition, p-type carbon blacks are both physically clean (low grit) and chemically clean (low sulfur), ensuring the final pipe is smooth and does not affect the taste of the water. The result is that our PLASBLAK LL6050 masterbatch enables Braskem to deliver a high-quality pressure pipe compound — which means long-lasting pipes, less losses and cleaner water for the Brazilian population.

Faster innovation through lean prototyping

The question became, how can we make sure this idea will actually work for our customers before we invest a lot of capital and human resources? In this case, we used a process called lean prototyping that allowed us to accelerate through the building, measuring and learning stages of innovation quickly and cost-efficiently. To evaluate this new idea, we brought together a cross-functional team of people at our activated carbon manufacturing facility in Glasgow, Scotland. The team’s goal was to deliver a process technology and a customer sample from a prototype system in a short period of time.

Working together, the team created a workable prototype system within one week. They then spent the next month testing different assumptions and applying their learnings to new iterations. By the end of the month, they had learned a great deal about their project, produced a viable prototype product, and identified clear next steps for future development. The experience also educated the Glasgow manufacturing team about the technology so that they can help ensure that the commercial design will be effective.